Draft-equalizer.



No. 688,868 Patented Dec. I7, mm; .1 LATOURELL DRAFT EOUALIZEB.

. (Application filed June 20, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES ATET rinse.

JOSEPH LATOURELL, OF STERLING CENTER, MINNESOTA.

DRAFT- -EQUALIZER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 688,868, dated December17, 1901. Application filed June 20, 1901. Serial No. 65,318.. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH LATOURELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sterling Center, in the county of Blue Earth and State ofMinnesota, have invented a new and useful Draft-Equalizer, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in draft-equalizers.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofdraft-equalizers and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient onedesigned for use on mowers, binders, and the like and adapted to preventthe side draft resulting from arranging three horses at one side of thepole and one horse at the other side.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a draft-equalizerconstructed-in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a transversesectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective View of thecon necting link or bar. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the keeper. Fig. 5is a similar view of the clip-plate.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawlngs.

l designates a doubletree pivoted at its center by a vertical bolt 2 toa laterally-extending bracket 3, which projects from one side of a pole4:, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings. Themain whifiletree or doubletree 1 is provided at its ends with theordinary doubletrees 5, to the terminals of which are connectedsingletrees 6. The inner end of the main whiflietree is located abovethe pole or draft-beam 4, and its sin gletrees are located at oppositesides of the same, and by arranging the said singletrees as shown inFig. 1 three of the horses or other draft-animals will be located at oneside of the pole or tongue and one will be located at the other side.

The laterally-extending bracket is composed of upper and lower sides,and the upper side consists of inner and outer sections 7 and 8, whichare pivoted together at their adjacent ends by a rivet 9 or othersuitable fastening device. The outer end of the outer section 8 isupwardly offset from the plane of the upper face of the tongue or pole,and the lower section 9 of the laterally extending bracket is curvedupward and bent outward to arrange it beneath the outer end of the outersection 8, and it serves as a brace for the same. The bracket is pivotedand is capable of a limited movement to avoid cramping the tongue orpole, and the pivot 2, which connects the main whiffietree to thebracket, also passes through the upper and lower sides of a fork 10 of arearwardly-extending transversely-disposedconnecting-barll.Theconnect-ing-bar 11 extends across the tongue or poleand connects themain whiffietree with one end of a lever 12, which is fulcrumed at itscenter on the tongue or pole by the pivot 13. The other end of thetransverse lever 12 is connected by a link or rod 14 with a clip 15 ofthe tongue or pole. The fork 10 of the connecting bar or link 11 isformed by securing a separate piece to the said bar or link 11, which islocated at the upper face of the tongue or pole, and this separate pieceis bent upward to offset its outer portion from the front end of thesaid link or bar 11. The fork may be constructed in any other suitableman ner, and the wliiffietrees are located above the plane of the poleor tongue.

The pivot 13 ot' the transverse lever is preferably supported by a strapor brace 16, and the ends of the lever, which are provided withhook-bolts l7,have perforations for the shanks of the hook-bolts. Thehook-bolts are connected with the ends of the links 11 and 14 by ringsor short links to form flexible connections. The rings 18, which connectthe hook-bolts 17 with the bar 11 and the rod 14:, may be of any desirednumber and of any form, and the link or bar 11 passes through alongitudinal keeper 19, secured to one side of the tongue or pole andextending above the same and adapted to prevent the draftanimals fromlifting the link or bar 11 when there is a strain on the traces or otherconnections.

The clip 15, which is located in advance of the whiilletree's, receivesthe tongue and is provided with a clip-plate 20, having an L shaped arm21 located at one side of the pole laterally to the right.

tongue and extending outward horizontally from the same at a pointmidway between the upper and lower faces thereof to exert a centralstrain on the tongue and to prevent the same from being twisted. Thesaid keeper 19 is provided at the lower terminals of its sides withextending lugs 22, engaging the lower face of the tongue.

The tendency of the tongue or pole to move laterally to the left iscounteracted by means of the transverse lever and the connectionsbetween the main whifiietree and the pole or tongue. The link or rod,which is disposed longitudinally of the tongue or pole, at one sidethereof, diverges rearwardly from the same, and any forward movement ofthe outer end of the pivoted bracket will pull forward on the left-handend of the transverse lever and draw the right-hand end of the saidlever rearward, and thereby move the tongue or By this construction sidedraft is effectually prevented.

The inner or left-hand end of the main whiffletree is prevented fromdropping upon the tongue or pole and engaging the pivoted bracket or theclip by means of a curved guard 23, consisting of a rod secured at itsends to the left-hand side of the tongue or pole and arched over thebracket and the clip.

It will be seen that the draft-equalizer is exceedingly simple andinexpensive in construction, that it is strong,durable, and adapted tobe readily applied to mowers, binders, and the like, and that it isadapted to prevent side draft when three of the draft-animals arearranged at one side of the tongue or pole and one is located at theother side. The draft-equalizer prevents any twisting of the tongue orpole, and it will enable a machine to be turned with ease and Withoutliability of cramping the neck-yoke.

What I claim is- 1. In a device of the class described, the combinationwith a tongue or pole, of a bracket extending from one side of thetongue or pole, a main whiffletree mounted on the bracket and providedwith doubletrees and singletrees, said douhletree being connecteddirectly to the ends of the main whiffletree, a transverse leverfulcrumed on the tongue or pole in rear of the main whiflietree, alongitudinal connection located at the same side of the pole or tongueas the said bracket and extending from the adjacent arm of thetransverse lever to the adjacent side of the pole, and connectionsbetween the other arm of the transverse lever and the main whifiletree,substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a tongue orpole, of a bracket pivoted to the tongue or pole at one side thereof, amain whiffletree mounted on the bracket and provided with doubletreesand singletrees, a transverse lever f ulcrumed on the tongue or pole inrear of the main whiffletree, the transverse connections extending fromthe pivoted bracket across the tongue or pole to the farther end of thetransverse lever, the longitudinal guide mounted on the tongue or poleand receiving the said transverse connections, and the longitudinalconnection extending from theother end of the lever to the pole,substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a tongue orpole, of a bracket extending from one side thereof, a main whiftletreemounted on the bracket and provided with doubletrees and singletrees, aclip secured to the tongue or pole in advance of the bracket'andprovided at one side with an arm extending laterally from the tongue orpole, between the upper and lower faces thereof, the diverginglongitudinal connection extending rearward from the said arm, atransverse lever mounted on a pole in rear of the main whiffletree andhaving one of its arms secured to the said connection, and thetransverse connection extending from the bracket to the other arm of thelever, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a tongue orpole, of the laterally extending bracket pivoted to the tongue or pole,the main whiffletree mounted on the bracket and provided withdoubletrees and singletrees, the transverse lever located in rear of themain whiffletree, the transverse connecting-bar extending across thetongue or pole and connected to one end of the said lever and providedat its front end with a fork receiving the main whiffletree, the cliplocated in advance of the bracket, the longitudinal rod secured to theclip and diverging from the tongue or pole and extending to the saidlever, and the longitudinal guide mounted on the tongue or pole andreceiving the transverse connecting-bar, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a tongue orpole, of a bracket extending from one side of the same, a mainwhiffletree mounted on the bracket and provided with doubletrees andsingletrees, a lever located in rear of the main whiffletree and havingone of its arms connected JOSEPH LATOURELL.

.Witnesses:

S. O. BERNER, F. M. GELLETT.

